Amazon's new e-reader, the Kindle Paperwhite, started shipping on Monday but is already sold out. Customers who order one today won't receive it for four to six weeks.

Amazon’s new front-lit e-reader, the Kindle Paperwhite (our review here), only started shipping on Monday to those who’d pre-ordered it, but it’s already sold out. If you order a Kindle Paperwhite today, it won’t ship for four to six weeks.

The delay appears to apply to both Wi-Fi and 3G models of the Kindle Paperwhite, and to models both with ads and without. I’ve asked Amazon for a statement and will update this post if I hear back.

A four- to six-week delay has the Kindle Paperwhite shipping in November. That should get the e-readers into shoppers’ hands by the holidays, though it’s possible that there could be further delays (or, of course, that the devices could ship sooner).